26 August 2009

Isn't this lovely?

Here's another technique for managing street people:
A controversial manure cure for homelessness in Surrey was apparently the result of discussions between city staff and members of the Surrey RCMP, Deputy City Manager Dan Bottrill said Monday. Bottrill said he is still trying to determine exactly who came up with the idea of spreading smelly chicken manure around a Whalley social service building to drive away vagrants.


By definition, 'vagrants' are without a place to stay, day or night. Until communities and this province see to it that there is sufficient affordable housing for all, we are going to have people on the streets.

DEAL WITH IT, HOUSE PEOPLE. Until then, allow encampments on public land so that at least people without housing can feel safe in their own tent communities. Also arrange for safe, serviced parking areas for the wheeled homeless to stay in their vehicles.

By the way, can you catch the jargon in this sentence? It's from one of the quotes in the original article: "Our neighbours in Vancouver seem to have a little better approach to the problem of dealing with the disease of substance abuse."

Can you spot it? Call it the psycho-medicalese that encourages the pathologizing of everyday life and the delicate stepping-around and reinvention of reality. The English language is now saturated with it.

H/t to Penlan who, in a comment on another post, brought this item to my attention.

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